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NC Students Rally Against Homophobia

As celebrities, television stations and millions of people around the country went purple for Spirit Day yesterday in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, North Carolina State University students, staff and faculty were rallying in protest of an incident of anti-LGBT vandalism at the school. The “Ally Rally,” as organizers called it, aimed to allow students to speak out against anti-gay slurs and rhetoric, bullying and harassment.

Earlier this week, an as-yet-unidentified person spray-painted the words “burn” and “die” along with an anti-gay slur on the outside of the university’s GLBT Center. The campus rose up in response, with several hundred people attending the Ally Rally and about 500 students signing an online statement from NC State student leaders that implores the community to denounce the vandalism.

"The way that we're reacting, the way the campus is reacting, that's who N.C. State is, and this is what the rally is trying to show," Rachel Turner, a member of the university's Student Senate, told WRAL.com.

While police said they still do not know who is responsible for the incident, they hope that security camera footage will provide answers. The culprit could face criminal charges as well as disciplinary action from the university.

GLAAD applauds the community at North Carolina State University for standing up against bullying and harassment toward LGBT people.

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